Purification of gases.



W. R. WHITNEY.

PURIFICATION OF GASES.

APPLICATION FILED nun. 6. 1911.

Patented Apr. 2, 1912.

Fig.1;

nitric acid vapor l llllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 2 Inventor Witnesss WILLIS R. 'WHT'I'NEY, OF SCHENECTADY,

To all may concern:

COMPANY, A CORPORATION NEW YORK.

, runrrrc'arronor- GASES.

v Specification ofltetters Pater 11:1. Application filed li b 6,1911. Serial No. 512,643.

Be it known that I, WILLIS R. Wnrrfinr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Schenectady, county of Schenectady, State of New York,"have invented. certain new and useful Improvements in Purification of Gases, of which the following isa specification.

My invention relates to the art of purifying gases such as smelter, or furnace gases,

from deleterious fumes, and itv has particu-.

lar reference .to the removal of sulfur dioxid from gases.

When gases laden with solid or liquid particles are passed between electrodes which are subjected to great difierences ofelectrical potential, the solid or liquid particles are deposited or' precipitated. Gaseous impurities such as sulfur dioxid, however, are not prec it'ated- Sulfur dioxid fumes are quite as harmful to vegetation as the removable fumes, and it is important, therefore, to eliminate the same.

In accordance with my invention the smelter or furnace gases are first mixed with Qoxidizing agents which will convert the sulare connected to any suitable source of potential direct-current. .As an example of vention may be carried out.

fur dioxid into a precipitatable compound, or compounds, gases are then-acted upon tial electrical field. v

My invention will bestbe understood by by a high potenreference to the accompanying drawings which show diagrammatically how my material such as asbestos One-set of wire.

mesh 2 is connected with the. flue itself, forming one-electrode and another set 3 is connected to the other pole, diagrammatically indicated as rod 4. These. electrodes higha :source' of highpotential direct-current I have shown a mercury arc rectifier 5, but it such as sulfuric acid, and the Y stack equipped v is to be understood, of course, that myin- The rectifier connections are-the usual ones, well understood in the art. Conducpotential transformer 9, supplied at its prirent generator 10. A battery ,11 serves to malntaln an exciting side branch arc. in the rectifier. The fumes and gases ascending tween the electrodes and as is'well understood the solid and liquid particles are de: fied gases-passing on -and discharging into "the atmosphere, Sulfur dioxid gas SO will not be deposited, as. it is a gas.

order to remove this as I introduce into the stack a mixture-0% aqueous va'orand nitric. acid vapor which by the wel -known fur dioxid to sulfuric acid or solid products such as acid and the like. These liquid or. solid passing between the high'tension-poles.

I have indicatedin the drawing that nitric acid vapors and steam are introduced oxid vapors NO may be Water may introduce the moisture instead of steam, or in case the smelter furnaces are laden-with moisture, the addition of nitric acid or nitric oxid vapors alone will serve to producethe necessary reaction,

As indicated in Fig. 2, it is desirable in oxid fumes and aqueous vapors with the flue gases in a reaction chamberl4 to get a more thorough mixture and to allow the reaction to complete itself before the gases to be purified are conducted by pipe 15 to the electricalprecipitating device. Of course, it will be understood that any surplus watery vapor containing dissolved acid is removed by condensation in any suitable manner.

What I claim as new and desire to secure 1. The process of removing sulfurdioxid from gases which consists 1n introducing steam and nitric acid vapor into said gases,

vention is not limited to any particular. means for creating the desired electric field.

.tors 6, 'Z lead respectively to cathode 8 andthe neutral point of the secondary of high mary by current from an alternating cur-'- poslted in thevhighpotential field, the puri-- nnw You, Assisi Non 'ro GENERAL jamm- Pat nted Apr. 2,1912. i

the stack or flue 1 pass in'a-sinuous path .be-g

,lead chamber' process converts the sul and other liquid nitrosyl sulfuric.

products are deposited or precipitated when 85. into the flue by pipes 12 and 13 respectively, 5 but I wish it to be understood that nitric employed instead of nitric acid vapors and 'a' fine spray. of?

some cases to mixthe nitric acid or nitric by Letters Patent of the United States, is,- v

to' fo 'm cjd as a protluct of there: .ity. toelhtiode surfaces of widely separated sultingereaction, and then subjectin (said electrical potential whereby sulfuric acid gziis'es to the precipitating action '0 h' h formedvby'ch'emical reaction is removed.

fi'erences of electrical potential where y In witnesswhereof, I have hereunto set afithe sulliiuric acidis fdeposifrfted. my hand this 4th day of March, 1911. I 2. '1 e process 0 puri ying Waste gases 1 containing. sulfur dioxid .as an impurity WILLIS WHITNEY which consists" in mixing-it with watery Witnesses: vapor and nitrous oxidizing gases, and then BENJAMIN B. HULL,

1 10 causing said waste gases -to pass in proxim- HELEN ORFORD. 

